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The_Eyes

Sep 29 2005, 06:15 PM

00:22:56 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Blondie glanced through a few of the scattered news stories. He lingered a little on the helicopter crash, as that one was entirely new to him. For his purposes, though, most of the information was irrelevant; this "war" was nothing he really wanted to get involved in. Fat lot of good it does the ones that do get involved, hmm? he thought, tapping absently at the butcher's list before him.

And now he was wasting time. The main goal here was to figure out who this Oracle character really was. He had let a few things slip--in particular the extent of his involvement in this "war" as well as being "too old not to know,"--that gave a few hints, but nothing really solid enough to go on. It looked more and more like he wasn't going to, either; this game he was playing made that extremely unlikely. Everything he had revealed so far was incidental; maybe by getting him to talk a bit more he'd reveal something important by accident.

But surely he knows that. So why is he still here? Blondie pursed his lips and skimmed over the rest of the windows. His thoughts were starting to go in circles, a sure sign that he was far too tired to be having conversations like this. "It seems you're guarding all the doors and holding all the keys," he said, gesturing unnecessarily over all the linked stories, "so why is there still a problem? What's left to find?" And if you know everything, why are you sharing? What do you hope to gain?

grendel

Sep 29 2005, 06:48 PM

00:23:26 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Oracle sits silently for a moment, a mercury flame burning in the palm of its hand.

"The doors I guarded are all but forgotten now. My purpose is not to hold keys anymore, that's for younger men. The time for action is at hand. You may think you're a spectator in this conflict, but, in truth, there are no innocents. When the fire comes, it will touch everything."

The_Eyes

Sep 30 2005, 03:19 PM

00:23:47 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Persistent, this one. What does he want, and what is he willing to give in return? Oracle was certainly trying to persuade him to do something, but Blondie had no idea what.

He wasn't being very convincing, though, and Blondie was determined for this meeting not to become a recruitment session. "Prophets and doomsayers have been announcing the end of the world since time began," Blondie countered, "Yet, somehow, the world keeps right on not ending. What makes this any different?"

Waving his hand to dismiss his own question as rhetorical, he continued. "What I'm asking is, why are we here? Obviously you already know more about Casimir than anyone not involved; why ask for details from the crowd if you're not going to learn anything new?" He singled himself out deliberately, drew attention to himself over the case. What's his game?

grendel

Sep 30 2005, 06:27 PM

00:23:47 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Oracle quenched the flame by closing its fist.

"I do not seek to learn anything new. My purpose is to alert those in the position to take action that action needs to be taken. While true that apocalypses have come and gone, the world only survives because individuals of great character have acted, always at risk of life and limb, to avert destruction. This instance is no different. While the attention of the greater powers has been diverted elsewhere, a shadow army has trained itself for combat. Even now, the opening skirmishes in this war are already being fought."

The_Eyes

Oct 1 2005, 02:45 PM

00:24:35 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Riiiight. Pull the other one, buddy. "A recruiter, then," Blondie replied, "And one who, judging from how you're asking me of all people to join your little game, is probably desperate, and in the process of losing."

Blondie leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and folding his hands. Despite himself, a grim smile broke across his face; Oracle, at least, knew at least one thing about his audience. "As I see it those are points in your favor. There was a time when that and your doomsday sophistry would have won me over completely."

The grin disappeared. You want to set yourself up as the beggar, that's just fine. But you can't be a beggar and niggardly with the info at the same time. "But then I grew up. I don't join unknown players in an unknown game, with unknown pieces and unknown stakes, all for the excitement of unknown dangers and an unknown future. Not anymore, anyway. You'll have to do better than obfuscated news links and vague pronouncements of doom."

grendel

Oct 1 2005, 07:08 PM

00:24:41 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

"Who asked for this meeting in the first place? What you do with the information I provide is your decision. You already know where to go. Spartacus and his forces have already left Massada. The soldiers of War World are on the march as well. They will fail without the weapon that Casimir forged, but they go to fight anyway. You know, Dante reserved the lowest level of Hell for those people who, in times of great moral crises, maintained their neutrality. You should look to your house, Blondie."

Waves of quicksilver flame leaked from between the closed fingers of Oracle's fist.

The_Eyes

Oct 5 2005, 06:21 PM

00:25:03 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Well that's something at least. Though exactly what it is, who knows? But still he had gotten something. Several names, though it was still a little unclear whose side each name was on.Spartacus, and War World? Who were they, and whose side were they on? Even worse, which side is which? And a weapon, made by Casimir. Could that be what this Epoch thing was: a weapon?

The thought made him very uneasy. He had already known he was getting drawn into some inane game of fetch, what with all the stes being laid out so brightly and carefully and clearly. Why such a setup? It wasn't to keep the man's enemies from finding the thing; obviously whoever this guy's enemies were they would easily be able to follow any trail that Blondie himself could. But it could very well be an attempt to put minimum safe distance away from the weapon. Works out great for everyone; the only one who'd get caught in the blast area was some poor sap who got suckered into following the shiny path laid out for him.

Abruptly Blondie realised how agressively he'd been talking to this guy. Mentally he shook himself; no matter how tired and frustrated he was, shouting at his best source of information was no way to get anything important. At this point though the meet was going nowhere fast. Blondie was beginning to think it had in fact been over a while ago; both he and Oracle had said very little new in the last few minutes other than rehashing the same old arguments, much like a long-standing forum debate after both sides have thoroughly dug in.

Clearly Oracle wasn't going to settle for anything less than Blondie's immediate, unquestioning assistance in whatever it was he wanted done, and any sort of delay was some sort of moral failure. Or at least that's how it seemed to Blondie. He sighed. "I wish I shared your vision," he replied, "All I see are many different choices, and little enough to tell between them. I do know, though, that every time one makes a decision in ignorance or desperation it's almost always wrong, or at least unwise."

Blondie caused his "chair" to slide back slightly as he prepared to stand and end the conversation. "As for who called this meeting, I had thought it was me, an attempt to barter information from another person interested in collecting. Now I see what I have to offer is already redundant, so there doesn't seem to be anything else. Is there?"

grendel

Oct 5 2005, 10:29 PM

00:25:11 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Oracle opens its hand, revealing quicksilver ranks of armored warriors, banners snapping from their pikes.

"Whatever you decide to do, be careful. Just because you've chosen to remain neutral is no garauntee that either side will respect that decision. There's one more thing that you should consider. This electronic war is of value even for those who have no vested interest in the mysteries of the Matrix. Factions will seek to exploit the combatants and the outcome to further their own agendas. Trust no one, my young friend."

The_Eyes

Oct 6 2005, 03:00 PM

00:25:32 Friday 12 January, 2063 - Abraxis, Shadowland, Seattle

Who ever said anything about staying neutral? "'Neutral?' Me, stay 'neutral?'" Eyes chuckled. "Oh I don't think so, friend. 'Neutral' is for people with either the power to back it up, or the cunning to play one side against the other without getting caught between. I, plan to stay away."

Eyes rose to his feet with a sigh. "Anyway, I guess this meeting didn't turn out as either of us planned," Eyes said. "All the same, it was good to meet you, attach a 'face' to a 'name', that sort of thing. Be seeing you."

Playing the role of minimalist to the hilt, Blondie didn't even bother walking to the door, but instead vanished right where he stood.

Shadow

Nov 9 2005, 09:33 PM

CODE

>Wow did you guys here about that blow up on the freeway last night? Holy hell someone paid top dollar for a grade a bang-bang.<

->Digitail Turbulance

CODE

>Grade A bang-bang? Your joking right? That was 'The black death' a Merk outfit from Japan. They are pretty highly conected in slant town but over here there just another Merk outfit with a dramatic flair. Besdies, the way I heard it the guy got away.<

->Topsy Turvey

CODE

>Damn straight I did.<

->Casper

CODE

>Sorry about that bud, we had to bail to finish the job, glad you got away. I've never seen anyone drive 300kph on the freeway before. To bad it was a Vtol chasing you and not a car. Nice job on the escape.<-

->Eclipse

bclements

Aug 27 2006, 05:35 PM

0105 Tuesday, January 8 2063-Shadowland Seattle

Shadowland Seattle -> Home Front -> Local Politics

CODE

Anything going on with the Mob tonight?
-Mango

CODE

Got something more to run on than that? That's gotta be one of the more vague questions I've seen asked, even coming from a ignorant breeder like you
-Neil the Code Barbarian

CODE

First off, this goes out to you, Neil:
[imbed Two Birds-right_at_ya.pic]

Second, here's the story for those with more gray matter than Neil:

Tonight's poker night for me and some chummers. Sidecar brings in these two brutes, slick suits, Pompador's, thick accents, the whole deck, into the game: Donnie and Alice he told us, were joining in tonight. I sharpened up the Math SPU to see how much I could rake off these fraggers.

Turns out, they're good at this, and an hour in they're up: Donnie and Alice he told us, were joining in tonight. I sharpened up the Math SPU to see how much I could rake off these fraggers. They start talkin' to each other in what turns out to be Italian (had to cycle through a few linguasofts to get to that)

Musta had some cards up their sleeves, 'cause hour in they're up $500 and most of that's from me. One of the brusers gets a call, and I get the 'soft online to catch the tail end of it

ï¿½Yeah, right now?ï¿½

ï¿½On our wayï¿½

He didnï¿½t sound happy to leave, and got the other one out of there quick too.

So, Iï¿½m asking, whatï¿½s up that two Italian-speaking, mafia-looking brusers would leave a poker game that theyï¿½re up on?
-Mango

CODE

ï¿½500 an hour isnï¿½t much to some people. Maybe they had a better oppourtunity?

-Skeptic

CODE

Maybe, but I saw something else like that earlier tonight.

Hanginï¿½ out at Underworld 93 earlier, shadowing a ï¿½clientï¿½ of mine. She wanted to hang out, drop some Zen or whatever, have some fun and still have a safety net. Easy couple of grand I figure.

So, Iï¿½m chillinï¿½ by the tables, keeping one eye on her and another by this chica thatï¿½s checkinï¿½ me out. Some fraggin pimp in a slick suit pops up, startï¿½s hittinï¿½ on her hard. Iï¿½m about to walk over and get him the hell off of her when he pops out his phone, looks at it, then walks out. Good thing I didnï¿½t try to pop him one, ï¿½cause three guys bigger than me escort him out.

So, I think the storyï¿½s got merit.

-Tornado

CODE

If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, Dr. Watson wouldï¿½ve put a cane straight into your thick skulls.

-Eclipse

CODE

Sherlock who? Thatï¿½s obscure enough that I donï¿½t even know if itï¿½s an insult
-Tornado

CODE

Whatever. I think youï¿½re looking for something thatï¿½s easily explained away. Or less likely, to get you killed. Which may be a blessing.
-Eclipse

CODE

Maybe the Stallion knows something?
-Neil the Code Barbarian

CODE

Maybe heï¿½s just as big a poser as you are.
-Skeptic

WinterRat1

Oct 5 2006, 08:22 PM

02:35:46 Tuesday January 8 2063 – Shadowland Seattle

Shadowland Seattle --> Financial Information --> Novatech IPO

CODE

OK chummers, so unless you haven’t watched the trid in the last several months, you know that Novatech has been planning on going forward with an IPO. But I’m guessing most of you don’t have the slightest clue what that actually means, so I’ve asked The Chromed Accountant’s pal Professor Tombstone to give us a brief rundown on what an IPO is, and more importantly, what it means for us here in the shadow community.
->Silver Shadow

Hello class, and welcome to the Shadowland School of Finance, where we teach you all the stuff you need to know but the corps won’t tell you. I’ll apologize in advance for the lecturing tone. I’m sure most of you in here don’t respond to authority or instruction very well; statistically there's probably quite a few of you in here who didn't even graduate from high school, but there are tried and true methods of teaching, and if you can stay awake through the lecture and actually pay attention, I’m sure you’ll learn something.

CODE

Arrogant little bastard, isn’t he?
->Sandoval

CODE

Do you know the ins and outs of an IPO? Do you know how it will affect you? Do you even know why this is important to know? If not, then shut up and listen.
->Scholar Savant

In this first lecture, I will be discussing what an IPO is, some basic facts surrounding it, a few surface conclusions, and give you a few hints as to why the mere mention of one has sent waves through the financial world.

Let’s start with a basic definition, shall we? It’s a bit lacking in technical precision, but for our purposes here, it gives us a solid working understanding:

QUOTE

Initial public offering (IPO): The first sale of a corporation's common shares to public investors. The main purpose of an IPO is to raise capital for the corporation. While IPOs are effective at raising capital, they also impose heavy legal compliance and reporting requirements. The term only refers to the first public issuance of a company's shares; any later public issuance of shares is referred to as a Secondary Market Offering. A shareholder selling its existing (not new) shares to public on the Primary Market is an Offer for Sale.

This basic definition alone gives us a few key facts about Novatech’s upcoming IPO.

1. Novatech was previously a privately owned company.
2. This is the first time Novatech’s common shares will be openly available to the public at large.
3. Novatech is in need of capital.
4. Novatech is willing to accept significant legal compliance and reporting requirements as the opportunity cost to get the capital it needs.

CODE

Hey aren’t we just taking his word for it that these are facts?
->Questioner

CODE

How did you find this place? Don’t we make people pass an IQ test before they can come here? Or at least be smart enough to figure stuff like that out on their own?
->World Weary

CODE

Ease up World. Questioner’s doing what everyone should be doing and asking the logical follow up questions to a statement. Maybe you wouldn’t be so weary if everyone in the world did the same thing.
->Sceptikal Klown

CODE

If you consider that question logical, we need to make you take the IQ test too.
->World Weary

Furthermore, in our pursuit of a better understanding of the facts, consider this list of some of the information Novatech will be required to disclose as a public company. I deliberately chose not to summarize for you because I want the sheer scale of this endeavor to sink in.

QUOTE

Procedure for registration; information

A security may be registered on a national securities exchange by the issuer filing an application with the exchange (and filing with the Commission such duplicate originals thereof as the Commission may require), which application shall contain--

1. Such information, in such detail, as to the issuer and any person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by, or under direct or indirect common control with, the issuer, and any guarantor of the security as to principal or interest or both, as the Commission may by rules and regulations require, as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, in respect of the following:

A. the organization, financial structure, and nature of the business;

B. the terms, position, rights, and privileges of the different classes of securities outstanding;

C. the terms on which their securities are to be, and during the preceding three years have been, offered to the public or otherwise;

D. the directors, officers, and underwriters, and each security holder of record holding more than 10 per centum of any class of any equity security of the issuer (other than an exempted security), their remuneration and their interests in the securities of, and their material contracts with, the issuer and any person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by, or under direct or indirect common control with, the issuer;

E. remuneration to others than directors and officers exceeding $20,000 per annum;

F. bonus and profit-sharing arrangements;

G. management and service contracts;

H. options existing or to be created in respect of their securities;(I) material contracts, not made in the ordinary course of business, which are to be executed in whole or in part at or after the filing of the application or which were made not more than two years before such filing, and every material patent or contract for a material patent right shall be deemed a material contract;

I. balance sheets for not more than the three preceding fiscal years, certified if required by the rules and regulations of the Commission by a registered public accounting firm;

J. balance sheets for not more than the three preceding fiscal years, certified if required by the rules and regulations of the Commission by a registered public accounting firm;

K. profit and loss statements for not more than the three preceding fiscal years, certified if required by the rules and regulations of the Commission by a registered public accounting firm; and

L. any further financial statements which the Commission may deem necessary or appropriate for the protection of investors.

2. Such copies of articles of incorporation, bylaws, trust indentures, or corresponding documents by whatever name known, underwriting arrangements, and other similar documents of, and voting trust agreements with respect to, the issuer and any person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by, or under direct or indirect common control with, the issuer as the Commission may require as necessary or appropriate for the proper protection of investors and to insure fair dealing in the security.

3. Such copies of material contracts, referred to in paragraph (1)(I) above, as the Commission may require as necessary or appropriate for the proper protection of investors and to insure fair dealing in the security.

CODE

What the FRAG does all that mean?
->Jander

CODE

This isn’t even a little piece of what’s covered in the rules for an IPO. If you want to see the (more or less) full list of links for the necessary information to have securities in the UCAS, click here:
[URL=http://www.seclaw.com/secrules.htm]Securities Laws, Rules, Regulation and Information [/URL]
->Scholar Savant

Think about it. Villiers’ contract, salary, bonuses, options, the whole shebang, will be open to the public at large. That alone is a shocker, not to mention that information (and a hell of a lot more) will be available for numerous other officers, directors, managers, etc. as well.

CODE

Wow, I wonder how much he makes!
->Jamazing

CODE

Let me help you out. A frag of a lot more than you do.
->Earl the Pearl

Knowing these facts leads us to a number of conclusions, some obvious, some not so obvious.

First, when Novatech was formed, Richard Villiers chose to keep the company private. Given his history at Fuchi, his desire not to fight anyone else for control of his company makes perfect sense. As a privately owned company in which he is easily the majority shareholder, Villiers has total control of the company and can run in exactly as he pleases.

However, as fact two states, an IPO makes the shares of the company open to anyone with sufficient nuyen to buy them. Since shares = control, that raises the obvious question of why Villiers would issue an IPO and reopen the door to the potentially messy boardroom battles he’d left behind.

The obvious answer in this case is probably the right one and the reason the IPO is going forward: Novatech needs capital. Given the significant legal and compliance reporting requirements noted above (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!), as well as the possibility of shareholder battles in the future, there simply isn’t another answer that makes any sense other than an overwhelming need for money.

Returning to my original thesis, we have first defined both what an IPO is and some of the facts surrounding one. As for why it’s making so many waves, well we can sum it up like this: high stakes of money, control, and information, not necessarily in that order. In a nutshell, an IPO is essentially a tradeoff in which the issuer is giving up a variable amount of control and information in exchange for a variable amount of cash. The gamble is that the amount of capital gained is enough to outweigh the opportunity cost of the control and information lost.

In future installments we’ll break down the ‘how’ of an IPO, as well as some of the resultant waves in more detail, but hopefully this is a primer that will suffice to get you started.

Questions?

Professor Tombstone

CODE

What kind of guy who calls himself ‘Professor’ makes the second part of it ‘Tombstone’?
->Hydra

CODE

It’s an in-joke. Pay attention to the lecture series and you might actually figure it out.
->Professor Tombstone

grendel

Mar 19 2007, 04:31 PM

10:39:17 Sunday 14 January 2063 - Shadowland, Seattle

Shadowland Seattle -> Marketplace -> Classifieds

CODE

Student of personal velocity seeks study group of likeminded individuals for exchange of information and technique. Discretion a must. Leave a message for Kinetic at 4145-602-8313 drop box.

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